WK: Power of Nature - S2 - Ep 19 - Rock-a-Bye Crocco
by Taismo-89
Summary: Collab with Soul. The crew meet a saltwater crocodile, but when Martin experiments the newest upgrade on the croc suit, an unexpected change of events put him in an unknown state of the salties.


On the northeast coast of Australia, the Tortuga was parked close to a brackish river. The Kratt Trio was looking around the beach.

"Where is it?" Chris wondered around. "They shouldn't be this hard to find."

"There!" Martin pointed out onto the muddy bank. Sunning on the shore was a big croc with a greenish brown color. "A saltwater crocodile! Also sometimes called "salties."

"Holy Hermes! It's huge!" Ventus exclaimed.

"It's the biggest crocodile in the world. Can grow up to 22 feet. And they're all over southeast Asia." Martin explained.

"They're in large abundance too. They're some of the least threatened of all crocs."

"Interesting. Guess I never programmed this creature info in the crocodile power suit before," Aviva said, as she observed from the screen in the Tortuga.

"Yeah. We only saw the American croc, the Nile croc and the Gharial croc in Borneo."

"He's pretty," Mina said.

"Pretty big, you mean," Bite-Size joked. Snow and her kittens ran around the HQ.

"Ugh…" Koki grunted. "They're messing everything up again."

"Well, all cats, wild or domestic, are playful," Aviva said. Then, Chloe knocked down her tools.

"Hey! Watch out for my bat box!" Bite-Size gasped. Too late! Pascal jumped on the top of the bat box, knocking it down, and breaking it. "Oh, no-ho-ho..." He lamented.

"*sigh* Don't worry. I'll fix it," Koki said. "Uh… excuse me, Snow?" The cat was taking a nap on her station.

"HEY! Not my controller!" Jimmy tried taking his controller away from Cappuccino and Chloe, and ended up getting a scratch on his leg. "OUCH!"

"Wow… never saw them so… agitated."

"Or with their claws so sharp," Jimmy said, flinching in pain, as Koki rushed to aid him.

"Hey, what's that croc doing?" Mina asked, seeing a saltie digging a spot in the sand.

"Either digging a hole for a new nest or removing the sand for baby crocs to come out of it," Aviva said.

"Saltwater crocs can lay 40-60 eggs," Chris informed. "Even more than Crocodilla could lay."

"Cool. Baby saltwater crocodiles," Martin said.

"Second option was right! Here comes the baby salties," Ventus said. "So that must be a female croc." He then saw the mother picking up her kids.

"Hey! She's **eating** her babies?!" Ventus started to panic. "But why?!"

"Relax, silly. She's not eating them," Aviva said. "She's just picking them up. And very carefully, because of her sharp teeth."

"Oh…nevermind then." Ventus blushed.

"Don't worry, I acted the same way when I saw Crocodilla do it. Worst mistake of my life," Aviva sighed.

"Hmm… I think I'll name her Saltine and one of her kids Rocko. *sigh* Reminds me of Rocko the Dodo." Chris put a hand on his shoulder.

"There was nothing we could do, no matter what we did, bro."

"Yeah, I know…"

One of the baby crocs approached the brothers, curious.

"Oh, hey there. Don't you think you should go with your brothers?" Martin asked.

"I think he already did," Mina pointed out to some footprints. "Guess he was between the first ones being carried to the water."

"Oh… so… would you like your name to be… Rocko?" Martin asked, activating his Animal Comprehension.

"Rocko!" The baby croc repeated, excitedly.

"He likes it." The Water Guardian stroked him gently with a finger. Rocko started to munch on it.

"Yikes. Doesn't that hurt?" Elsa asked, observing through the screen.

"Nah. Baby crocs don't have all of their teeth when they're born. Only the egg tooth that help them break their eggs. It's located here in the end of his snout. The rest will grow in after a few weeks." Martin explained.

"Strangely, after a year, baby crocs are able to take care of themselves. Eventually, they leave to find a habitat of their own. Crocodilla's babies totally were against this tradition, because they're still with their mom," Koki pointed out, as she finished fixing Bites' bat box. "There, Bites. Your bat box is fixed, but we need to wait a little. Glue doesn't harden in a few seconds. So guess we'll be sharing the hammock again."

Bites got into his human form, and hugged her."Thanks, Koki."

"Aw… it's like he's your son. Or little brother," Elsa observed them.

"Yeah… more like a little pocketful of sunshine that entered my life." Koki ruffled Bites' hair.

"Hey, stop! My controller collection!" Jimmy gasped, trying to prevent the kittens of breaking his controllers. "I need them intact for the game trade convention."

"They're getting everywhere," Aviva complained.

"And so does their fur. I'm not allergic, but the place looks like a barn full of hay," David complained.

"But we managed to upgrade one of our crocodile disks. Modified for saltie activation. Send it, JZ." Aviva threw the disk to the teleporter.

"Zap it!" Jimmy pressed a button and sent it to the bros.

* * *

><p>Once the disk was teleported, Martin caught the disk first. "Me first!" he cheered.<p>

"Won't this be… dangerous?" Ventus asked.

"Dangerous? Ha! I'm an expert creature adventurer. laugh at the face of danger," Martin said, laughing, until a croc snapped close to him. "Whoa!" He backed up. His two bros started snickering. Martin narrowed his eyes. "Ha ha, very funny. But really opportune." He quickly touched the croc's snout. "Activate saltie powers!"

After the transformation, he observed his new style. "Hm… "

"So… how does it feel?" Chris asked.

"Hm… interesting. Look: the saltwater crocs have fewer armour plates on its neck than other crocodilians."

"Yeah… why is that?" Ven asked.

"I don't know for sure… but their heads are bigger than the other crocs as well. And check out the jaw strength." Martin opened his croc mouth, then quickly closed.

"Wow… a snap like that could really crush a full-grown bovid's skull between its jaws. Salties don't have the strongest bite force in the creature world today for nothing." Chris observed.

"Well, time to test out the swim ability," Martin said. With that, he headed to the water. "Ooo, nice and warm, yet cool. The perfect temperature for any aquatic reptile."

"Wow, it looks so easy to swim without all those armour plates on the neck. Guess that's why salties don't have many," Aviva said.

"You're right. And the skin feels like leather." Ventus touched the suit.

"Obvious, isn't it?" Chris said.

"True. They all feel like leather." Martin chuckled. Ventus blushed. Suddenly, Martin felt like something was pulling on him.

"Hm… I don't know why… but something tells me I gotta go that way."

"You sure it's not just a small current?" Chris asked.

"Hey… Saltine and the kids are passing by that current," Ventus pointed out, watching the signals on his Creaturepod. "Where are they going?"

"I know," Aviva said. "In a similar fashion to migratory birds, saltwater crocodiles use ocean currents to travel long distances. They do this in search of food."

"I'm gonna follow them and see what they do." Martin decided.

"Be careful, little brother," Ven told him.

"Ven, I'm not a little boy," Martin chuckled.

"I know, but I never got used to Aqua or Terra becoming adults. So something like this is kind of new."

"Gotcha. See ya guys!" With that, the Kratt in blue rushed to follow Rocko, his brothers and Saltine.

* * *

><p>The crocs and the Kratt in blue continued their travel, until they found a school of fish. The fish were very tiny.<p>

"Oh, guess it's lunch time!" Martin noticed. Everyone left the current. "Hatchlings usually feed on small bugs or fish. The larger the animal grows, the greater the variety of its diet." He observed the two catching fish, as well as the other croc babies. As they finished eating they headed back to the current. Martin followed.

Then, he saw a bunch of predatory fish coming right to the croc babies. "*gasp* Oh, no! Rocko! Saltine! Kids! Watch out!" Saltine saw the predators and began defending her children. Martin tried to help too.

"Unlike adults, baby saltwater crocodiles may fall prey to monitor lizards, predatory fish, various aquatic and raptorial birds, larger crocodiles, and many other predators."

Fortunately, Martin and Saltine were able to protect Rocko, but the rest of the babies… unfortunately were fish food.

"Oh, no… I'm sorry for this, Saltine," Martin lamented the sad fate of Rocko's brothers. "Now I know how Crocodilla felt about losing her babies."

_"Don't blame yourself… my mother had to face this too..." _Saltine said.

Then, Martin checked his Creaturepod. "Whoa! Wait a second! We're going the wrong way! We're reaching the southeastern region! And it's colder down there! We have to get out of here!"

Martin tried to escape the current, but eventually Rocko and Saltine lost him, no matter how he struggled to free himself. He was getting really cold and his body started to move very sluggishly. Then, the current got weaker and Martin finally got out.

"Phew… I did it! But it's... so cold here... and my Creaturepod froze... and now... I'm getting really sleepy..." He started to yawn. Two shadows moved above him. "Huh?" He looked up and saw Rocko and his mother, climbing onto a nearby bay.

"Rocko… Saltine… where are you going?" Martin yawned, as he hurried to try to meet them. "Right. Without having to move around much, sometimes simply by floating, the current-riding behaviour allows for the conservation of energy. *yawn* Salties even interrupt their travels, residing in sheltered bays for a few days, when the current is against the desired direction of travel, until *yawn* the current changes direction."

He settled himself close to the croc mom. "*yawn* I'm so tired… maybe I just need a nap." His eyes closed as he drifted off into slumber.

Saltine stared at him for a short while, unsure about him until Rocko crawled over to him. The baby croc gave a small chirp. Martin didn't even stir. He then tried climbing on his back and yanked his hair with his toothless jaws. He still didn't move.

Rocko chirped with sad eyes to his mother. He was getting worried about his friend.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Chris and Ventus waited for Martin to call back. They were getting worried.<p>

"Ugh... it feels like HOURS! What happened to him?" Ven asked.

"Hm… not getting anything on my Creaturepod. It's almost out of power. Let's check with the others," Chris suggested, heading inside. He and Ventus gasped: the place was an absolute mess. "Whoa... what in the name of Zeus happened?"

"Well, we had some… problems," Aviva said.

"Yeah, some furry problems," Koki said, pointing to Snow and her kittens.

"I see that… but has Martin called you guys?" Chris asked.

"Uh... no," Koki said, hesitating a bit.

"Wait. Can't you get his signal?" Ventus asked.

"Uh... it disappeared."

"You lost him?!" Ven was starting to freak out.

"Calm down." Aviva put her hands on his shoulders. "We'll find him."

"The last point of signal we had was several miles south near southeastern Australia," Koki informed. "There was a strong current from here to there. It's possible Martin got caught in it by accident and taken farther south."

"And the water gets colder as he continues passed even Australia," Chris said in worry. "He won't be able to take it being in a croc suit."

"Why?" Elsa asked.

"Like all reptiles, crocodiles including salties are cold blooded. They support themselves on the temperature of their environment. It has to be just right for the reptile to survive."

"So Martin can die out there?!" Ven panicked.

"Ouch… my ears," David complained.

"Sorry… You know I get loud when I'm nervous."

"Well, it's a slim chance. He'll probably make it, but we gotta find him." Chris left for a moment and came back in his scuba gear. "Ven, I hope you're ready for your first time on a Manta Rider."

"Wait. What?"

"Come on." Chris proceeded to push him into the other room to get his wetsuit on.

* * *

><p>The two brothers set off to find their missing brother.<p>

"Brrrr! This water _is _cold!" Ven complained. His wetsuit was a white version. "I'm not surprised that a croc can't last long out here!"

"Yeah, we gotta find Martin and fast!" Chris said. "He must be freezing!"

"Wait, Chris! I'm finally getting a signal!" Ven held up his Creaturepod. The screen showed two lights. "It's... Rocko and Saltine! They're nearby!"

"Maybe they've seen Martin! Let's go follow the signal!" The two set their Manta Riders to full speed. Once they reached shore, they left their vehicles on a dry spot on the sand before going to their crocodilian friends. They noticed the big bluish one with them.

"Any chance that big croc could be her… mate or something like that?"

"No. All crocs are solitary, besides the moms with babies. Besides, it's alligators that are bluish, not crocs. So it must be..." They approached the "reptile" and they gasped.

"Martin!" He wasn't moving, but he was breathing. He just laid there like he was asleep. Both eldest and youngest brothers rushed to him.

"Martin! What's wrong? Wake up!" There was no response.

"Let me do a medical scan." Chris held his Creaturepod over Martin and it scanned him. "Body temperature: cold as ice. Heartbeat: pumping, but very slow. *gasp* Oh no."

"What's wrong with him?"

"When a saltwater crocodile is in someplace cold, their bodies freeze up so they don't need to breathe or eat for a long time."

"Like... hibernating?"

"Kind of. Saltwater crocodiles hibernate. But only during dry or drought times, and I may remind in a cold time. Drought makes it hard for their bodies to function correctly, as well as the cold."

"Uh-oh," Aviva gulped, as she saw everything from the HQ. "Guess I made it… too much like a saltie."

"Come on, Ven. We got to get him to the Tortuga." The two carefully set him on their Manta Riders. "Thanks for watching over him, Saltine. We owe you."

Saltine nodded, and Rocko looked at Martin. He seemed worried.

"Don't worry, buddy. Once he wakes up, we'll find you guys, so he can see you again," Chris assured. Rocko chriped as he saw the brothers take their croc bro to the HQ.

* * *

><p>The Tortuga landed in the park. The Wilkinson family was actually there waiting for them.<p>

"Koki called us. What exactly happened to Martin?" Laura asked.

"He's over here." Chris pointed to the water tank with the croc bro.

"Martin!" Laura rushed to her boyfriend.

"Is he okay?" Gavin asked.

"He's alright, guys. Believe it or not, he's sort of… hibernating," Ventus explained.

"Crocs hibernate?" Ronan asked.

"Yeah, mystery to scientists too. Maybe he only needs to warm up."

"Can't we just deacti-" Laura started.

"No!" Chris stood in front of the tank, guarding it. "A sudden shock awakening like that can be harmful to any reptile in this kind of state! And that includes reptile power suits. We could end up hurting him. Trust me. We can't deactivate him, just like Aviva with the groundhog suit. Martin has to come of it on his own."

"Oh... sorry. It was just a hunch," Laura said. "Come on, bring him in."

"Huh?"

"You said he needs to warm up, and it's gonna be cold by night, so we're setting the fireplace."

"You want my brother in a 22-feet long saltie suit in your house?"

"He's always welcomed at our place." Laura giggled. "And so are you guys."

Inside Laura's house, everyone waited for Martin to wake up. Martin opened his mouth then snapped. "Whoa!" Laura yelped.

"Careful Laura. Salties do that when they get too hot. Saltwater crocodiles have the strongest bite of any an..."

"Yeah, I know. You told me that… but I know my love would never hurt me." Laura smiled at him.

"I think we better move him closer to the fire. His heartbeat's slowing back down." The whole Wilkinson family helped Chris move his croc bro to the fireplace. Laura sat down to lay his head on her lap.

* * *

><p>Martin was still asleep for the next few hours. Every few minutes, he took a breath or snapped his jaws. Laura stayed by his side, stroking his hair or teasing his sprigs. Chris did a quick scan after some time.<p>

"Body temperature: 98.6 fahrenheit. Heartbeat: 180 per minute. Normal when resting like this. I say it's safe to deactivate him now."

"Nah, he's cute like this. Just a little longer until he fully wakes up."

Martin began to stir. He yawned under the touch of his beloved girl. "Good morning..."

"Morning, sleepy croc." He looked up at her.

"Laura… how did you get to Australia?"

"Uh bro, we're actually back in the city," Chris informed. "You slept during the whole ride back home. And even then, you were out for hours."

"You were hibernating… saltie style," Gavin said.

"Wow… I really needed a nap, but not like that," Martin joked, while Laura deactivated his suit, and kissed him.

"Um… Laura, do you guys have pets?" Aviva asked the blonde woman.

"Well… not at the moment. I've been thinking honestly about getting one."

"So… we've been having some… furry problems. And we were hoping you could… "

"Keep our familiar cats, please!" Koki shouted. "Ahem… I mean..."

"Familiars? Like special animals with secret abilities?" Laura asked. "It was our theme in the last reunion of the Myth Club."

"Well, the only ability they have for now is messing things up. Nothing against them, but..."

"I know… you got a work to do. Okay… where are they then?"

Then, they heard Jimmy's scream. He ran to the house, panting, and the cats entered through the small entrance in the door.

"Cats got your tongue, Jimmy?"

"My tongue, no… but my legs… ouch… Oh, hey, Martin. We were worried." Mina caught a scent from one of the kittens.

"You tried giving them a bath, didn't you?"

"Well, they needed one."

Snow purred close to Laura. Her kittens followed shortly after.

"Don't worry. I'll take good care of these cuties." She knelt and picked up Snow. She purred on her lap, and set herself up for a nap.

"Thanks. Wish we could stay more… but we have someone to search for," Martin said, looking at the team, who nodded in approval.

* * *

><p>As the team reached Australia again, Martin tuned up his mental power.<p>

"_Oh, I really do hope he's all right,"_ a familiar voice said in his mind.

"Rocko! Saltine!" Martin cheerfully called. The baby croc looked in his direction before chirping happily and scurrying over.

_"He's okay!"_ he heard Saltine mentally cheer. She swam over to meet the Kratt in blue. The baby saltie scratched on his boot.

"Aww…. I missed ya too, buddy." Martin gently scooped up the little croc into his arms.

"Wow, what a day. We took a closer look on the salties, and learned a lot about them," Mina said. "Bigger than other crocs, and the least menaced species of it..."

"Also with the strongest jaws in the world," Chris added.

"And even able to hibernate like bears or groundhogs," Aviva said.

"Another day for the Wild Kratts, another mission accomplished… and another Animal Friend for our life list," Martin said. "*yawn* But I'm still a little tired. You don't mind if I take anap now, do you?"

"Just don't go rock-a-bye crocco again," Ven joked.

"Wha- did- did you just-" Martin was stunned, not believing his older brother perfectly did his "4th wall trick". Letting Rocko go meet his mom, the two of them talked as they walked back to the HQ.

"This means "war", bro. You know that, right?"

"Had enough wars, thank you very much." Ven gave him a smug smile, making him smirk. The team laughed about the two of them.


End file.
